The Truth From Weston’s Sister - And Response (7)

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

I try not to read the negative articles and opinions about my older brother. Growing up around politics, I learned a long time ago that thick skin is not only necessary, it’s paramount. But this time, the lies and the rumors and the inaccurate information has gone too far. It’s too ridiculous for me to ignore. So let’s clear a few things up:

Weston and I do not “come from money.” We are not trust-fund babies. We will not inherit any extraordinary wealth.

When I read these articles and hear people talking about Weston living off of his “daddy” I laugh at the inaccuracy of this insinuation. Honestly, for my own sake, I wish it was true. To all the people who talk about this “family money” that Weston lives off of, my response is, when were my parents going to tell me about it? My Dad was a commercial real estate broker before he went to Congress. He went to Congress and left Congress with no great wealth. Those are the facts. And to Elisabeth Zachary, one of the publishers of these baseless rumors, since college, Weston has always paid his own bills. Four years ago he bought his own house, with his own money, and makes mortgage payments every month.

Weston has a job now, has had several jobs throughout his adult life, and has worked his tail off to get where he is in life. I will not take this opportunity to talk anymore about his involvement in Lamp Post because, quite frankly, anyone who doubts his position or role at Lamp Post at this point is misguided and unwilling to accept cold hard facts. I will take this opportunity to ask those who do not believe my older brother has enough “experience” to serve in Congress if they are aware of what the current Congressman did before he was elected? He was a collections and personal injury attorney whose website still advertises that he’s “collected millions of dollars for (his) clients in both the personal injury and collection areas of practice.” To Johnny Jones and those like him who accuse Weston of lacking “tangible experience,” is being a career collections attorney the experience you are talking about? Surely not.

Weston is not Zach. For better or for worse, my brother is not the same person as my Dad. Will either of us ever shy away from the fact that Zach Wamp is our Dad? Most definitely not. He’s the greatest example of a public servant and a leader that this city may ever see and it’s a privilege to be his daughter. However, if you know my family well you know that my brother and my Dad are often very different from each other. My brother is his own type of politician. He’s a new breed of conservative in a new era of American politics. The scene in Washington looks a lot different now then it did when my Dad was elected 20 years ago. And the new Washington, the one that is drowning in partisan rhetoric, needs fearless young millennials like Weston. Not Zach. There is a difference.

Zach Wamp is not a lobbyist. It is truly disheartening that I even have to include this. But the current Congressman’s ground campaign has been largely centered around attacking my Dad. Let me clear this up, so that anyone who reads this will at least be on notice that it is not true, my Dad does not, has not, and will not lobby Congress. The current Congressman has already been sued for defamation once, it’s no secret that the truth is a mere annoyance to him and his campaign.

Perhaps the most egregious proposition I have read to date is from Elisabeth Zachary’s response in which she says, “How else could Wamp be arrogant enough to believe that he could possibly effect change in Congress?” What a sad day we have come to when we do not recognize the only candidate, the only person in this district, who could incite change in Congress. If not bold, young, energetic, fearless leaders like Weston, then who? Has Washington become so hopeless that we now believe Congress cannot be changed by its own members? I do not think so. I refuse to believe that. This nation is too great for us to give up. Please, let’s elect new leaders and maybe, just maybe, we’ll begin to see a new day in American politics.

If anyone else would like to “fact check” their information before they post something negative about my older brother, my e-mail address is wamp.coty@gmail.com. I’d be happy to tell you the truth.

Coty Wamp

Chattanooga

* * *

Coty Wamp, given that on behalf of your brother Weston, you have recently presented yourself as a “fact check” expert; in order to ascertain the noteworthiness of your recently released fact correction statements - your answer to the following question will establish for the Third District voters you and your brother Weston’s trustworthiness.

Coty Wamp, in the interest of helping your brother's campaign, did you in secret film a Scotty Mayfield appearance at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville in 2012 and post the unflattering You Tube video entitled, “Scottie Mayfield Struggles to Answer Basic question?”

This is a simple yes or no question that will resolve for the Third District voters your campaign's believability. Now is your chance to exercise “fact check” skills.

Johnny Jones

Hixson

* * *

Way to go Coty.

Hoorah!

Joan Youngblood

* * *

Wow. I think I'd like this young lady representing me in government. Direct and to the point. I'd certainly prefer her over another lawyer.

I don't see where the problem is with recording, whether audio, video, or both, any politician or political candidate. What are they doing and saying that they don't want made public? Recordings clear up any he said - no I didn't, he did - no I didn't controversy. We as voters don't have to decide who we believe, we can see or hear it for ourselves. Ms. Wamp's recording was of a public event, and is certainly more kind than the "people of WalMart" photos constantly being circulated on the internet. Mr. Wamp's recording has never been made public, and we would have never known about it if someone else hadn't hollered. Still, he has not made any of it public. I'd bet it has kept this race more civil than if he hadn't made it. (Just a wild guess there.)

This young lady is entitled to speak her mind, just like I am. If we want her actions to reflect upon her brother, then in all fairness we would have to do the same with the former collections attorney. Which family members do we start with? How about his father because so many allusions are made about Weston and his father? Then we can see, if he has any siblings, whether they've ever done anything that we want to keep beating like a dead horse.

Macel Holloway
Signal Mountain

* * *

Coty, I have no doubt that your brother, Weston Wamp is grateful for your faithful defense of his character, but he still has not answered a big question about his pay for a year that he did not work and if he is in compliance with campaign rules. He worked a whole year and got paid $24,000. He did not work a whole year and got paid $67,000 by his employer at Lamp Post.

Your big brother Weston said he was against super PACs. His boss at Lamp Post went on the record at the Chattanooga Times Free Press and stated that he contributed $300,000 to Weston's campaign.

Your Dad admitted to lobbying in an interview in Rolling Stone. Now why would your dad not use Weston's rollodex of names when Weston is in Congress to keep on lobbying?

You are obviously a good sister and daughter and sometimes being in those positions does not make you a good judge of whether your brother would be a good Congressman and represent his constituents faithfully.

Rachel Miller
Signal Mountain

* * *

Rachel, who is feeding you these lies? The Rolling Stone article that you reference was about former Congressmen who do not lobby and Zach Wamp was one of them. And you know that Weston's salary listed as $24,000 was for a partial year, not a full year because of the reporting requirements. Facts are facts. No matter how many times you repeat a lie, it doesn't become truth. Chuck Fleischmann, is running an untruthful, negative campaign again. He must think the people of the third district are stupid.

He has no record to run on. In four years, he hasn't sponsored a single bill that has made it to be voted on. All he can do is lie about whoever he is running against to try to get re-elected. He needs to go back to what he's good at, collecting money for slip and fall cases, and leave governing to the statesman.

Greg Butcher

* * *

If anyone is confused about the truth concerning Weston Wamp and his secret recordings, bring up the article by Louie Brogdon published on May 28, 2014, in our awarding-winning newspaper, "Scottie Mayfield: congressional candidate Weston Wamp secretly recorded me at home." There is much more if you simply research Weston Wamp's name.

I am not an attorney, but I would know how to reach mine if someone barged into my home with my family present and recorded everything said to use in a political campaign.

Charlotte Parton

Chattanooga

* * *

Coty,

As a self-proclaimed "fact checker" I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt that you missed the following article from the Times Free Press earlier this year and did not willfully ignore it.

"'To the extent that any of the subject publications/communications pertained to plaintiff... those publications/communications were either true or substantially true and, therefore, not actionable'". Binkley wrote.

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